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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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 Posted - 10/10/2020 : 6:15:03 PM
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I'm starting a build from a kitmaker who's new to me, HRM Laser Models. Specifically, I'm doing his small 25t (Milwaukee Road prototype) coaling tower. This is probably an early 20th century design, so I'll build it as if it's brand new on my late 19th century layout.
Here's some info on the kit: http://hrmlasermodels.com/Structures/CoalTower25ton/index.php
And a photo of what's in the box:
Pretty much everything is laser cut, but I'm looking at some possible substitute parts.
This'll be a slow build, as I have other projects (model and 'real world') that I'll be working on at the same time.
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/10/2020 : 6:18:14 PM
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First substitution is the Tichy styrene coal chute (extracted from their 400t structure). This looks like it should fit nicely.
I was worried that the opening for the Tichy part would be much smaller or bigger than the HRM part, but they seem to match pretty well.
I've also sent a note to Don Tichy to see if I can buy the sprue with the skip from his much larger tower, to see if I can make that fit, too. If not, I might build the HRM part, and then see if I want to re-implement it in styrene. (I suspect the laser cut part will look too thick to represent a metal skip bucket.)
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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Michael Hohn
Fireman
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Posted - 10/10/2020 : 8:47:07 PM
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It looks like a nice kit, Dave.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6978 |
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TRAINS1941
Engineer
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/10/2020 : 10:48:35 PM
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I'll follow you Dave.
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Jerry
"And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 13040 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/11/2020 : 10:14:51 AM
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The Tichy skip sprue is on order. Don Tichy is great about accommodating modeler requests like this. (Several times, he's sold me the laser-cut window glazing for packages of windows that I bought before they were included.)
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/17/2020 : 1:30:40 PM
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I've done some work on the coal tower.
The base is 2 pieces of wood glued together. I applied sanding sealer, then sanded to get rid of any wood grain. Then I primed with unbleached titanium buff (looked a little too orange to me). Next I 'painted' on some Stucco, then stippled with a stiff brush to remove any brushstrokes.
Then I very lightly sanded to remove the most obvious "teeth", and applied a coat of titanium white with a -very small amount- of green. I wanted to use olive, instead I grabbed Hooker's Green, which was a bit too 'greeny'. So I hit that while it was still wet with A&I wash, to tone it down.
Finally, I applied black weathering chalks all around where the coal dust would fall, and very lightly sprayed some A&I on that to set it. I'll add some pieces of coal after this dries. I'll scrape away any stucco from where the framing gets glued before I start assembly.
I decided to paint both the siding and the wood framing a red oxide color. This would represent a relatively new & well maintained structure, as well as hiding the coloring from "laser burn".
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
Edited by - deemery on 10/17/2020 1:31:05 PM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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TRAINS1941
Engineer
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/17/2020 : 2:01:27 PM
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Nice looking stucco.
Good choice the oxide red one of my favorite colors for that new but not worn out look on wood.
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Jerry
"And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 13040 |
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Dutchman
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/18/2020 : 09:28:13 AM
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Looking good, Dave.
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| Bruce |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 33008 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/18/2020 : 10:31:42 AM
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I assembled the bin. The bin slides inside the laser-cut (and fragile) frame. It's a tight fit, so I had to do some more sanding. I'll touch up the paint today and add the cross bracing on the framing.
This kit really doesn't have "directions", rather a bunch of drawings with some assembly notes. I think that's a bit unfortunate, conventional directions could have pointed out some things that weren't obvious from the drawings, and highlighted places where additional care is needed. For example, it's best to build the bin first, then to test fit it through the framing, before the framing is glued to the base.
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
Edited by - deemery on 10/18/2020 10:59:02 AM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/18/2020 : 6:34:51 PM
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Some more progress on the framing. Here's a test of the Tichy coal chute as a replacement for the kit's part. It fits.
And then adding more of the bracing. It's tough to clamp the pieces to get solid glue joints.
The left side is set in place to make sure the cross bracing aligns. That'll get removed so some other pieces get added. I'm sure I'll have to go back and adjust some glue joints when it's time to permanently glue this into position.
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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acousticco
Fireman
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Posted - 10/18/2020 : 8:04:45 PM
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Looking great so far, I'm following along with interest.
-Cody
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Country: Canada
| Posts: 1767 |
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railman28
Fireman
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Posted - 10/19/2020 : 1:57:55 PM
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Nice start. I like how you prepped the base. Good color choice too for a new structure.
Bob
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It's only make-believe
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Country: USA
| Posts: 5693 |
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mark_dalrymple
Fireman
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Posted - 10/19/2020 : 2:10:13 PM
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Looking really good, Dave.
Cheers, Mark.
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Country: New Zealand
| Posts: 1256 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/19/2020 : 5:40:46 PM
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Not as much work as I thought, but what I did today made a difference :-)
I glued on the (diagonal) bin joists. The little laser-cut notches really help position these. Then I test-fit the coal bin. Fortunately, no additional sanding was needed. You can see how I added some weight to get a bit of clamping on them, using a 2" L shaped piece with a 1" angle block as added weight.
Then I put the removable side assembly back into position, and tacked the cross bracing into position.
Since I wasn't quite happy with the evenness of the paint, I then masked the base and spray painted the entire framing assembly to get a reasonable 'fresh paint job' look. I'll add some weathering to this. I think the contrast with the bin should look good.
Once the paint is dry, I'll remove the the tape and the right assembly, insert the bin, and then replace and permanently glue that assembly. I'll add some more coal around the base and re-glue the sway bracing. Then it'll be NBW time!
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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George D
Moderator
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/19/2020 : 5:52:59 PM
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Your supporting structure looks good, Dave.
George
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| Fly Army |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 16568 |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/19/2020 : 9:03:14 PM
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Bin is inserted, and right frame is clamped to lock it in with the connecting parts...
dave
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| Modeling 1890s (because the voices in my head told me to) |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 8739 |
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